Requirement
2. The steps of the archaeological process
Required Often forgotten
Seven of them: site location, background research and a research design, site survey and fieldwork, artifact identification and examination, interpretation, preservation, information sharing. LEARN THESE PROPERLY. Requirement 10 asks you to use "the steps of archaeological inquiry", which is this same list under a different name and with no number attached.
Notes and warnings
Warning. LEARN THESE SEVEN STEPS PROPERLY, BECAUSE REQUIREMENT 10 IS MARKED ON THEM UNDER A DIFFERENT NAME. Here they are called the steps of the archaeological process. Requirement 10(a) asks you to describe the steps of ARCHAEOLOGICAL INQUIRY from your work on a real project, and 10(b) asks you to use them to analyze a simulated site. It is the same list, renamed, and neither requirement mentions requirement 2 by number, which is why it is easy to arrive there treating it as a new question. The seven are site location, background research and a research design, site survey and fieldwork, artifact identification and examination, interpretation, preservation, and information sharing. Requirement 10(b) also asks how the environment and time affect INTERPRETATION, which is one of the seven.
Where this step comes from
- Archaeology Merit Badge Requirements (Merit Badge Hub, last modified 2025-12-31), Requirement 2 · The requirement names site location, development of background research and a research design, site survey and fieldwork, artifact identification and examination, interpretation, preservation, and information sharing.